U.S. journalist pleads guilty to acting as illegal agent for China

A U.S. journalist who lived in China since 2010 pleaded guilty Thursday in a U.S. court to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government. Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, admitted he worked at the direction of people he knew were employed by the People's Republic of China from at least 2019 until February this year.

Details of the plea Court filings show Pauken worked for several Chinese state media organizations, including CCTV and Xinhua News. He acknowledged being part of a conspiracy to obtain sensitive information from the U.S. government for China. Pauken received at least $100,000 from a contact identified as "Cathy," who gave him taskings that included meeting potential intelligence assets.

He was introduced to Cathy in 2017 by a speechwriter for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Travel and additional contacts Between 2019 and 2025, Pauken traveled multiple times to the U.S. to meet people who could supply information for the Chinese government. He gathered intelligence on American targets and reported it back to his handlers.

" Those contacts told him reports he filed were being sent to Japan. He separately sold information about the U.S. Department of Justice and technology to a group from Wuhan and was asked to help them find an expert for cyber espionage.

Statements and sentencing Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said the case illustrates the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to undermine democratic institutions. After the hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, Pauken's attorney Charles Burnham told Politico that his client accepted responsibility and sought to promote peaceful relations and advance religious freedom in China.

Pauken is scheduled to be sentenced on 1 September and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.